Artistic genius across three different artistic disciplines.
Picasso’s genius for painting; Chaplin’s genius for film making; and the Beatles’ genius for songs are fine examples of how artistic creativity can be used to approach complex problems.
These guys all were masters of creating art that depicted universal experiences that could be appreciated by us all. They were spontaneous and intuitive in their approaches at first and then built discipline and persistence as their projects evolved.
So to understand creativity , we must understand the character of the artist.
Ever notice that whenever you begin an new artistic project like a new book, painting, portfolio, short film, etc that the darned Fear of Failure Demon always seems to drop in to petrify you? You spend sleepless gut wrenching nights where all you can imagine is doom. You toss and turn with dark visions of both yourself and your art as objects of scorn, ridicule, or even worse objects of pity. So you put off trying for the thousandth time, and ditch your dreams. Ask the top painters, cartoonists, designers, illustrators, comic creators, animators, poets, writers, directors, and they will all claim that they are no different! They too have had to deal with the Fear of Failure Demon and have had their shares of crushing disappointment.
I’d like to give a shout out to Krishna Sadashivam The creator of the killer web comic PC Weenies! He called in and left a voice mail question on the Man vs. Art Minion Hotline! He asks what animation studios are looking for in terms of Storyboard Artist Portfolios. Check out the podcast if you want to know what I had to say on that.
Born in 1920 Isaac Asimov was a writer of some of the greatest classic Science Fiction stories of the last hundred years. Of his works The Foundation Series… The Galactic Empire series and his Robot series were major contributions to the world of sci-fi literature. And These are just a few among the 500 books that he wrote or edited in his lifetime.
In particular Asimov’s Robot series generated 2 lasting concepts in science fiction including the invention of a robot’s ‘Positronic’ brain and the 3 laws of Robotics. Both concepts were featured in the movies ‘The Bicentennial Man’ and ‘I Robot’ which were loosely based on his characters.
Lastly I’d like to present you with some samples of the 2D Traditional and some 3D digital Animation my students did from my History and Principles of Animation and Timing for Animation Classes at the Gnomon School of Visual effects in Hollywood California.
I’m going to make a big sweeping generalization right now. I’m going to “paint with a broad brush” so to speak.
It’s tough being an Artist.
Yup.
It always has been I suppose. There’s a bunch of crap we have to put up with! But you know which artists have it the worst I think?
Little kid artists. Especially lower income little kids. In the hood there is no support for the arts. The kids have no access to supplies, equipment, training, mentors, books, or even a place to sit down and draw. Luckily for the young artists in El Monte California there is a guy like Enrique Diaz, a wonderful and generous man driven by a great passion for the arts!
Today I want to rip apart and put to rest 7 awful myths and misconceptions about of art!
These Myths are totally wrong and mess up the integrity and purpose of art.
1. Art means whatever people want it to mean.
No way Jose! A professional artist, always has intention, and it’s his job to communicate that intent through mastering their craft and applying their skill in the form of hard work.
2. Art is all a matter of opinion and is subjective.
Hello! Every kind of response to art is an opinion, so that’s not news. What the myth implies is that all opinions are equally valid. That is FALSE! Some opinions are better than others. Opinions that are based on better reasoning are much stronger than opinions based on bad or zero reasoning!
Not all art is subjective. Some art is objectively good, and some art is objectively bad. The correct assessment depends on the evaluation of the criteria, not on the viewer’s whims or tastes.
On today’s episode of Man vs. Art I want to explore how the act of drawing has thoroughly shaped our lives. There was a time when the ability to draw was seen as the primary essential skill of any artist. But in the age of the cut and paste pixel and digital imagery many see drawing as an outdated activity. I want to challenge the modern prejudice that it’s not cool to draw. That those who draw are sad Luddites and weird loners stuck in a dead past. Drawing is the most rewarding and essential artistic skill at work in the world today.
